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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Technology
Ian Sample Science editor

DARK SECRETS: Contest launched to decipher herculaneum scrolls using 3d x ray software | Rare Historical Photos

Herculaneum Geoff Caddick AFPGetty
Prof Brent Seales examines a piece of Herculaneum scroll.
‘We’ve built the boat. Now we want everybody to get on and sail it with us,’ said Prof Brent Seales. Photograph: Geoff Caddick/AFP/Getty

The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79 laid waste to Pompeii and nearby Herculaneum where the intense blast of hot gas carbonised hundreds of ancient scrolls in the library of an enormous luxury villa.

Now, researchers are launching a global contest to read the charred papyri after demonstrating that an artificial intelligence programme can extract letters and symbols from high-resolution X-ray images of the fragile, unrolled documents.

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